Travelling to places is my passion and travelling to places with the people I love to be with is the best thing in the world!
I was all set to travel to Kerala for the very first time with my daughter and my cousin brother,his wife(my bhabhi) and their little kiddo.My cousin and his wife had planned this trip well in advance so I was looking forward to five days of great fun.I wasn't the least the bit disappointed because this Kerala trip was the best ever trip for me and my daughter,all thanks to my cousin,his wife and their adorable toddler.
We flew to Kerala for a few but totally memorable days there.First and foremost, the company we had made it more pleasurable for us.There were many first-time experiences here that we will cherish for the rest of our lives.Most of our itinerary was planned well in advance and we had booked our tour through Paradise Holidays.
We stayed at places that gave us a wonderful view of the surroundings and we could really relax and rejuvenate in the heart of nature.In fact at Ranger Wood Hotel,Thekkady, we had the vast Periyar Tiger Reserve in our backyard!We had a lovely walk in the morning and lazed in the scenic balcony.At Munnar we visited the famous tea garden...saw most of them in prime and a few in their nascent stages of growth.Saw a few waterfalls on the way there and also visited the Mattupetty dam where we had boiled ground nuts and spicy masala kairi.....yummy!Surprise,surprise,at Kerala we could not find a place where we could get filter coffee for ourselves though we searched at so many hotels,restaurants and roadside stalls.What was available was the Bru powder coffee.Kerala was teeming with young honeymooners and what a perfect choice for the lovey-dovey couples!.After Munnar,it was Thekkady.My daughter says Thekkady was heaven as we had the most eventful days there.I had a first tasting of fried squid there.We visited the spice garden at Thekkady where the guide introduced us to the herbs and spice plants and told about their healing properties.We bought a few herbal oils and spices at the store there and my daughter is a fan of the hair oil we bought from there.We had our first elephant ride there.What an experience it was to sway with the gentle Ghajani walk of the pachyderm!The mahout took pleasure in clicking pictures of us with our ride in different poses.At Ranger wood hotel we had Ayur Thejus,a massage therapy with herbal oils.First we were given a head massage with lots of oil and then a body massage and the Shirodhara,where lukewarm herbal oil drips on our forehead from a particular height in a particular rhythm from a suspended vessel above the head.After that we were given a steam bath in a scientific yet traditional steam chamber that looked like a little cupboard into which we sat with our head sticking out while hot steam caressed our body.It was really rejuvenating !
We witnessed the traditional and world famous martial arts of Kerala-Kalaripayattu and watched a Kathakali performance by artists.The skilled and agile Kalaripayattu performers were really something!There are daily performances like these for tourists at many places here.We visited the Periyar Tiger reserve.We took a boat ride which was along the Periyar reserve.It was tedious to book the tickets for this one but it was worth the effort.We saw a few animals and birds and had a scenic view of the river and the reserve from the boat.What was most thrilling was the night patrol, i.e a trek inside the Periyar Reserve from 1 am to 3 am with the forest rangers for company.As predicted ,there were not many takers for this trek and we only had a couple of foreigners with us for this thrilling once in a lifetime experience.We had a few heart-in-the-mouth moments as we came too close to the wild elephant and a wild goar.What a chilling and thrilling encounter that was!We can never forget the way we ran for our lives when one of the forest rangers said ,"Ani,ani,po...po!!!(elephant,elephant.. run,run!!!)
Our last stop was at Alleppy where we stayed overnight in a house boat and sailed around the backwaters of Kerala.We shopped at the local fish market and the fresh fish was cooked for us at the houseboat.Tasted the best food at the house boat.Overload of fish and vegetables cooked in different ways.We did some last minute shopping at the local market and bought hot and fresh banana chips and dry fruit halwa. We saw the lush green paddy fields on our ride and also enjoyed the best lunch and dinner at the house boat.This brought us to an end of our short but eventful and memorable mini vacation.It was nice to have my cousin and his wife and kid for company as it made our stay all the more enjoyable.It was great to meet my little nephew and bond with him.We went back to Cochin airport and flew back to Amchi Mumbai while my cousin and family stayed for another day there.
Here are some magical moments in Kerala.Some pictures are courtesy my ace photographer cousin, Ajoy Prabhu.
I was all set to travel to Kerala for the very first time with my daughter and my cousin brother,his wife(my bhabhi) and their little kiddo.My cousin and his wife had planned this trip well in advance so I was looking forward to five days of great fun.I wasn't the least the bit disappointed because this Kerala trip was the best ever trip for me and my daughter,all thanks to my cousin,his wife and their adorable toddler.
We flew to Kerala for a few but totally memorable days there.First and foremost, the company we had made it more pleasurable for us.There were many first-time experiences here that we will cherish for the rest of our lives.Most of our itinerary was planned well in advance and we had booked our tour through Paradise Holidays.
We stayed at places that gave us a wonderful view of the surroundings and we could really relax and rejuvenate in the heart of nature.In fact at Ranger Wood Hotel,Thekkady, we had the vast Periyar Tiger Reserve in our backyard!We had a lovely walk in the morning and lazed in the scenic balcony.At Munnar we visited the famous tea garden...saw most of them in prime and a few in their nascent stages of growth.Saw a few waterfalls on the way there and also visited the Mattupetty dam where we had boiled ground nuts and spicy masala kairi.....yummy!Surprise,surprise,at Kerala we could not find a place where we could get filter coffee for ourselves though we searched at so many hotels,restaurants and roadside stalls.What was available was the Bru powder coffee.Kerala was teeming with young honeymooners and what a perfect choice for the lovey-dovey couples!.After Munnar,it was Thekkady.My daughter says Thekkady was heaven as we had the most eventful days there.I had a first tasting of fried squid there.We visited the spice garden at Thekkady where the guide introduced us to the herbs and spice plants and told about their healing properties.We bought a few herbal oils and spices at the store there and my daughter is a fan of the hair oil we bought from there.We had our first elephant ride there.What an experience it was to sway with the gentle Ghajani walk of the pachyderm!The mahout took pleasure in clicking pictures of us with our ride in different poses.At Ranger wood hotel we had Ayur Thejus,a massage therapy with herbal oils.First we were given a head massage with lots of oil and then a body massage and the Shirodhara,where lukewarm herbal oil drips on our forehead from a particular height in a particular rhythm from a suspended vessel above the head.After that we were given a steam bath in a scientific yet traditional steam chamber that looked like a little cupboard into which we sat with our head sticking out while hot steam caressed our body.It was really rejuvenating !
We witnessed the traditional and world famous martial arts of Kerala-Kalaripayattu and watched a Kathakali performance by artists.The skilled and agile Kalaripayattu performers were really something!There are daily performances like these for tourists at many places here.We visited the Periyar Tiger reserve.We took a boat ride which was along the Periyar reserve.It was tedious to book the tickets for this one but it was worth the effort.We saw a few animals and birds and had a scenic view of the river and the reserve from the boat.What was most thrilling was the night patrol, i.e a trek inside the Periyar Reserve from 1 am to 3 am with the forest rangers for company.As predicted ,there were not many takers for this trek and we only had a couple of foreigners with us for this thrilling once in a lifetime experience.We had a few heart-in-the-mouth moments as we came too close to the wild elephant and a wild goar.What a chilling and thrilling encounter that was!We can never forget the way we ran for our lives when one of the forest rangers said ,"Ani,ani,po...po!!!(elephant,elephant.. run,run!!!)
Our last stop was at Alleppy where we stayed overnight in a house boat and sailed around the backwaters of Kerala.We shopped at the local fish market and the fresh fish was cooked for us at the houseboat.Tasted the best food at the house boat.Overload of fish and vegetables cooked in different ways.We did some last minute shopping at the local market and bought hot and fresh banana chips and dry fruit halwa. We saw the lush green paddy fields on our ride and also enjoyed the best lunch and dinner at the house boat.This brought us to an end of our short but eventful and memorable mini vacation.It was nice to have my cousin and his wife and kid for company as it made our stay all the more enjoyable.It was great to meet my little nephew and bond with him.We went back to Cochin airport and flew back to Amchi Mumbai while my cousin and family stayed for another day there.
Here are some magical moments in Kerala.Some pictures are courtesy my ace photographer cousin, Ajoy Prabhu.
No comments:
Post a Comment